The only mistake dual Olympic race walking medallist Jared Tallent made in Beijing was in the stands, watching his fiancee Claire Woods crossing the line in her 20km race.
Used to turning off his stopwatch when crossing the line during his own races and training sessions, Tallent instinctively pressed pause on the video camera he was using to film Woods.
So the moments before and the moments after she crossed the line are there for them to show off back home, but not the big moment itself. Tallent, however, is entitled to a mistake.
It caught much of the athletics media by surprise to learn that by winning a silver medal in the 50km to add to his bronze from the 20km, the boy from a potato farm near Ballarat became the first Australian man in more than a century to win more than one Olympic athletics medal.
The greatest race walker of all time, Poland's Robert Korzeniowski, described his performance of backing up for the 50km as ''amazing'' and has tipped Tallent to be a gold-medal contender in London.
The 23-year-old was undoubtedly the star performer of the Canberra-based contingent in Beijing.
But there were plenty of other bright moments from the diverse group who live and train in the capital, and quite a lot of heartbreak.
The next most successful Olympian in terms of multiple medals was swimmer Brenton Rickard, who claimed a well deserved silver medal in the 200m breaststroke and then picked up a second in the men's team, winning silver in the 4x100m medley.
But the most memorable achievement in the pool came from the quiet achiever of the swimming squad, Linda MacKenzie, who proved that good things come in small packages with a brilliant anchor swim in the women's 4x200m freestyle gold medal win.
With the US and Chinese teams fiercely chasing her down, MacKenzie ''did the job for the team'' and held on. It was a gutsy swim, typical of a no-fuss athlete. It also ensured fellow AIS swimmers Felicity Galvez and Angie Bainbridge picked up gold for their heat swims.
There were gutsy performances elsewhere in Beijing but with no reward.
One of the most impressive came from professional cyclist Michael Rogers in the men's road race. Unfancied after his recent battle with chronic fatigue, Rogers surprised just about everyone but himself when he rode into the final kilometre with the lead pack. He didn't have the sprint legs to make it to the podium, but his sixth-place finish was an encouraging sign that he will be a force in his return to the Tour de France next year.
While Rogers could take heart from his finish, for others there was little consolation in defeat.
Tallent experienced joy from his two walks, but most of his AIS teammates were far from happy after theirs. Chris Erickson was devastated to be disqualified from the 20km, Kellie Wapshott looked in despair after her low finish in the women's race and bright young hope Adam Rutter succumbed to illness early on in the 50km after going out with the lead group.
For Hockeyroos Sarah Young and Nicole Arrold the draw with China which cost them a place in the semi-finals was devastating, as was defeat in the basketball gold-medal game for former Canberra Capitals Tully Bevilaqua and Lauren Jackson.
Giving some context to swimmer Leisel Jones's unhappy receipt of silver four years ago, Jackson and much of her team were in tears receiving theirs. It proved once again that there are some times and some athletes for whom nothing less than gold will do.
Track cyclist Daniel Ellis would certainly have settled for a minor medal. One of the bright hopes of the squad, Ellis led off the team sprint in its bronze medal ride against Germany. Incredibly the margin that separated him and his team from a place on the podium proved to be just eight one-thousandths of a second, which would place him among the narrow losers of the whole Games.
For some Canberra-based athletes a medal was never really on the cards, but the experience of making an Olympics was enough reward for all the hard work and sacrifice.
Archers Lexie Feeney and Jane Waller were on a high even after their elimination in the women's individual competition, 1500m runner Lisa Corrigan was also upbeat after missing the final and Matt D'Aquino insisted all the hours behind the service station counter were worth it for the 90sec he lasted in the men's 60kg judo competition.
For quite a few Canberra-based athletes, there will be no London 2012. Happily for many others the experiences of the last two weeks will prepare them for another shot.
If there's one of our athletes to really look out for in four years time, think Patrick Mills.
The lighting quick guard was the star performer in the Boomers' loss to the US, earning enormous praise from the likes of Kobe Bryant and his coach Mike Krzyzewski.
And he had a ball along the way. He didn't get his chance to carry the Aboriginal, Torres Strait and Aussie flags in a medal celebration this time, but maybe 2012 will be his time.
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